Improvement in corn-stalk cutters and crushers



I. & J. F. W'ENTZE L. com STALK CUTTER AND CRUSHER.

Emma May 9,1876.-

N.PETE.RS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON, D C.

" UNIT D STA'rEs FFIOE.

ISAAC WENTZEL AND JOHN F. WENTZEL, OF KUTZTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT CORN-STALK CUTTERS AND. CRUSHERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 177,304, dated May 9, 1876 application filed I November 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ISAAC WENTZEL and JOHN F. WENTZEL, of Kutztown, in the county of Berks, and State of Pennsylvania,

haveinvented certain new and useful I mprovements in Corn-Stalk Cutters and Crushers; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,

which will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

is an end view, partly in section, to show theoperating mechanism; Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View taken in the line w 00, Fig. 1.

Referring to the partsby letters, A represents a suitable frame, in which the main driving-shaft B is journaled, A being the frame of the feed-box, arranged at right angles to the frame A, as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The main shaft B is provided with a suitable driving-pulley, B, and a smaller band-wheel or pulley, b, on one end, which projects beyond the side of the frame A. On the opposite side, and within the frame A, the cutter-wheel G is keyed to the shaft B, and on the other extremity or end of said shaft a worm-gear, D, is secured. This worm-gear D gears with a spur-wheel, E, keyed to the end of ashort shaft, 0, which is journaled in proper hearings on the frame A, at right angles to the shaft B. F is a roller keyed to the shaft 6 within the frame A, and G is a spur-wheel, which is keyed to the outer end of said shaft on the Outside of frame A. This wheel G gears with another spur-wheel, H, mounted on a shaft, h, which is loosely journaled in adjusta- Y ble bearings formed by elongated slots in the sides of the feed-box I, the latter being of usual form, and secured to the top of frame A.v Within the elevated and covered portion 1 of the feed-box a toothed feed-roller, J, is keyed to the shaft h, so as to revolve within the box under the cover I. K are springbars secured at one end to the under sides of the frame A, their other ends being left free. K K are rods, the upper ends of which are bent around the shaft lb, and their other ends passed through holes in thespring-bars K,

and are provided with adjusting-nuts k.

The cutter-wheel O is made with a solid webflc, on one side, through which are formed radial slots 0 c and on the outside of the web, 0, on one side of the slots 0, are secured cutting knives or blades 0 The frame A is inclosed to form a box, provided with a suitable cover, and having an inclined end, a. At the bottom of this incline is a concave recess, a, formed in the bottom of the box, the lower end of the concave joining aslightly upwardly-inclined bottom, which continuesto the end'of the box.

The concave surface a is armed witha series of projecting teeth, 10, arranged laterally across the width of the box. L is an incline on the end of the box, opposite to the incline a. M is a cylinder or wheel mounted on a shaft journaled in the frame A, near the bottom of the box, said shaft being connected by a band, 0, with the pulley b. m are a series of teeth projecting from the cylinder M, corresponding in shape with the teeth a of the concave a, and arranged .so as to interspace with them as the cylinder M revolves.

The operation of the machine is as follows:

Power being applied to the pulley B, so as to turn the shaft B, the worm-gear D on its end, gearing with the spur-wheel E, will cause the shaft 0 to revolve, carrying with it the roller E, the gear-wheel G, on the other end of the shaft 6, at the same time causing the toothed feed-roller J to revolve in the contrary direction through the operation of the gear H. The springs 'K K and rods K K operate to keep the roller J down on the corn-stalks, in sufficiently close contact with the roller E,

and between therollers E and J the stalks are fed inward toward the cutter-wheel (l, automatically, all that is necessary being' to supply the feed-box with the stalks as the rollers draw them inward.

The cutter-wheel G will, of course, revolve with, and in the same direction, as the shaft B, and as the stalks are fed inwardly by the rollers E J they are out into small pieces by the knives c and, as out, pass through the slots '0 into the box.

The inclines a and L conduct the cut stalks down between the concaveu and the cylinder M, the teeth of which crush them, breaking up all the hard pieces, and turning them out thoroughly crushed and broken up into small fragments suitable for feed.

With a machine of this construction it will be seen that the process is continuous and effectual, all parts of the machine operating automatically and directly from the movement of the shaft B, which may be driven by any suitable or convenient power.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Lettors Patent, is-

The feed cutting and crushing machine, consisting of an automatically-operating feed device, comprising the rollers F and J, gears 1 G H, and worm-gear D, a revolving cutterwheel, 0, and a crushing-cylinder, M, and concave on, all arranged for continuous operation through the revolution of the shaft B and belt O, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own, we aflix our-signatures in'presence of two witnesses.

ISAAC WENTZEL. JOHN F. WENTZEL.

Witnesses:

SVETOSAR T. KOSSOVATZ, JONAS H0011. 

